The phrase “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” means it’s impolite to inspect a gift’s value. It comes from the practice of determining a horse’s age by its teeth. St. Jerome and John Heywood are credited with the phrase’s origin, not the Trojan horse.
It is quite clear that one should not look a gift horse in the mouth because it would be impolite to do so. Understanding the origin of the phrase further expands its meaning. There are two possible sources for the phrase, and both suggest that it is impolite to inspect a horse’s teeth, which are usually considered a good indication of the animal’s age and value. The recipient of the gift should show gratitude instead of trying to immediately try to determine the value of the gift.
A modern example of “gift horse” behavior would be a person who receives a gift and immediately searches the tags to see how much has been spent. This is considered rather rude and the recipient should receive the gift politely without trying to determine its value.
Also, the term can refer to an unexpected gift or event. For example, a student might get an A minus on a test they didn’t study for, and look a gift horse in the mouth and complain that they didn’t get an A. Technically, getting the A- was itself a gift because the student didn’t studied.
The phrase is often attributed to St. Jerome, who said around 400 AD, “Never inspect the teeth of a gift horse.” Others argue that the phrase was first developed and written down in 1546 by John Heywood, an English writer.
Not examining a horse as a gift is often confused with the Trojan horse, left behind by the Achaeans during the Trojan War. It was allowed inside the walls of Troy but it was full of enemy soldiers. The thinking behind what connects the phrase to the Trojan horse is that looking into the mouth could mean someone could be shot by an arrow.
In fact, this is not the correct interpretation of the origin of the gift horse phrase. The phrase most commonly associated with the Trojan horse is “Beware Greeks bearing gifts.” Inspection of the mouth is most closely related to the actual practice of determining a horse’s age. Such a thing is impolite to do when the horse is a gift, and it is best for the recipient to wait at least until they are out of sight of the person giving the gift.
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